Downtown schools may hurt night life plan

University, charter school could affect businesses

ESCONDIDO  Two schools proposed for downtown Escondido could make it harder for new liquor stores, wine tasting rooms and restaurants to open nearby, city officials said this week.

State regulations governing how close schools can be to businesses that sell alcohol will be a factor in city approvals that both schools need before they begin construction.

The regulations could force some businesses selling alcohol near the schools — a Catholic university and a charter high school — to close during school hours or limit their advertising, city planner Bill Martin said.

Such restrictions would be a hurdle to the city’s longtime goal of bringing more night life to downtown, which is mostly empty after the retail shops close in the early evening.

Martin said he was optimistic the possible restrictions wouldn’t be a big problem. He said they would affect only new businesses where people would buy alcohol they take home, such as liquor stores and tasting rooms, called “off-sale” locations. And the businesses wouldn’t be regulated unless they are within 600 feet of a school.

John Paul the Great University wants to create a downtown Escondido campus using the empty H. Johnson building. UT PHOTO— Charlie Neuman

John Paul the Great University wants to create a downtown Escondido campus using the empty H. Johnson building. UT PHOTO
— Charlie Neuman

Martin said officials from the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control told him existing businesses would be in the clear, and that there would be no effect on new businesses where alcohol is consumed on-site, such as bars, restaurants and nightclubs.

“The one area it could potentially affect would be off-sale locations,” Martin said. “The two conditions mentioned were hours of operation and advertising, but there could be more.”

Martin said he plans to thoroughly explain the possible restrictions to the Escondido Planning Commission during a public hearing scheduled March 26 for the proposed charter school, The Classical Academy. The school plans to take over the North County Times site at Valley Parkway and Kalmia Street.

Jennifer Ward, a supervising investigator in the beverage control department’s San Marcos office, declined to discuss specifics of how either proposed school would be regulated or how the schools might affect proposals for downtown bars and restaurants.

She said her agency sometimes creates different restrictions for on-site versus off-sale alcohol establishments near schools, but said the process is complex.

“Each license is investigated independently and a variety of factors are taken into account to determine whether or not conditions will be placed on a license,” Ward said.

Ward said universities and high schools would fall under the same state regulations.

Barbara Redlitz, the city’s planning chief, said the city hadn’t yet discussed the Catholic university’s proposal with the state beverage control department.

The City Council approved a downtown zoning change last week to allow the university to take over three downtown buildings near Grand Avenue and Maple Street: AmericaWest Bank, H. Johnson Furniture and the Mingei International Museum.

But Redlitz said the university hadn’t yet submitted a formal application to the city.

Grand Avenue has several restaurants that serve alcohol. Supporters of the proposal from the university, John Paul the Great, said they expect the campus to attract more restaurants to the area because the school’s 150 students will be new customers.

The university, in Scripps Ranch, expects to grow by 20 percent each year, officials said.

Cameron Curry, executive director of the Classical Academy, said he hopes his proposal doesn’t jeopardize plans for any alcohol-related businesses.